International and Area Studies Commons^™

Muslim Women And United States Healthcare: Challenges To Access And Navigation, Dayna M. Seeger

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

This paper offers an analysis of the interactions of Muslim women in the US healthcare system in order to unpack challenges and propose potential accommodations. Islam may inform values or considerations in the context of other cultural factors or present Muslim women with specific challenges in seeking healthcare based on Islamic teachings or social constructs. This paper examines these factors by elaborating on an overview of Muslim interpretations of healthcare using religious authorities, text from the Qur’an, and social norms. It then delves into challenges faced by Muslim women in the US healthcare system and the implications of those challenges …

Kittens And Nutella: Why Women Join Isis, Samantha K. Smith

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

On February 18, 2015 CNN published a reported stating that Western women were leaving their homes to join ISIS because of a social media campaign featuring pictures of kittens and Nutella. This reported propagated the notion that women who join jihadist organizations are brainwashed or feeble minded. The reality is not so simple. This paper explores the motives women may have for joining ISIS through comparison to the motivations that drove women to partake in other violent jihadist organizations' activities.

The Impact Of Jordanian Health Care Policy On The Maternal And Reproductive Health Care Seeking Behavior Of Syrian Refugee Women, Momina Mazhar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

On November 20, 2014, the Jordanian government rescinded the free health care it had provided to Syrian refugees living in the host community. Now, Syrians must pay the same amount as uninsured Jordanians when seeking health care in facilities run by the Jordanian Ministry of Health. Identified as a vulnerable and disadvantaged population, most of the Syrian community is not financially secure and has difficulty meeting the cost of living in Jordan. This study surveyed 36 Syrian women and interviewed 2 of them in order to determine the effects this policy has had on their maternal and reproductive health seeking …

Underestimating Women In The Early Modern Atlantic World, Lindsey Bauman

International ResearchScape Journal

This essay examines the limiting gender roles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as depicted through the detailed account of Catalina de Erauso, a Spanish woman who ran away from a convent. Disguising herself as a man, Catalina eventually journeyed to Chile, joined the militia, and took part in fighting against the native peoples of the region. Noted as being an exemplary warrior in the midst of battle, she was not detected as a woman until she exposed herself. By taking historical context into account, this essay argues that patriarchal society’s view of women is what enabled Catalina to impersonate …

‘Please Be A Lady… You Are Not Going To Be Heard’: The Debate Over The Ratification Of The Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women, Kasie Durkit

International ResearchScape Journal

Why did the United States fail to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women? This overarching question forms the basis of this paper and will be answered using an array of primary and secondary sources. This paper gleans most of its evidence from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearings of 1994 and 2002, letters from both President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Congressional Research Service reports on CEDAW from 2013 and 2007, several Senators’ statements in the Congressional Record, Congressional testimony, and the text of the CEDAW treaty. This …

Strategic Deployments Of "Sisterhood" And Questions Of Solidarity At A Women's Development Project In Janakpur, Nepal, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

Women, Land & Justice In Tanzania (Book Review), Sandra F. Joireman

Political Science Faculty Publications

Among the many debates surrounding land in Africa, one that has endured through both colonization and independence is the argument over the merits of preserving customary land law. Human rights based approaches to property rights in Sub-Saharan Africa note women’s secondary or derivative rights to land under customary law, correctly identifying inequalities in rules and practice. Communitarian approaches, on the other hand, address the adaptability and accessibility of land regimes defined by customary law. This book contributes to the debates on women, land and law and, while it will be frustrating to some as it does not take a side …

Resigning Their Rights? Impediments To Women's Property Ownership In Kosovo, Sandra F. Joireman

Political Science Faculty Publications

Kosovo is one of the newest countries in the world. It achieved independence in 2008 and emerged from international supervision in 2012. As a new country, it has faced the challenge of establishing the appropriate foundations for a flourishing economy through the creation and enforcement of property rights. With the incentive of potential European Union membership in the future, Kosovo has shown significant progress in developing laws that are EU compliant. However, the enforcement of these laws often falls short. One of the areas in which there is an identifiable gap between law and practice is in the area of …

Engaging Metis: Exploring An African Woman's Negotiation Of Change, Ruby Pappoe

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

African women’s emerging visibility as social and political actors has received a lot of attention in the past two decades. Scholars have explored women’s political movements and sociocultural activism from various perspectives to expose their contributions to social change. Although this scholarship has expanded to incorporate multiple voices as well as expose the contemporary strategies of resistance women engage in to overcome difficult challenges, there seems to be little research on ordinary women as they also confront their daily challenges in hope of improving their situations. This research takes up this gap by exploring a Ghanaian woman’s resistance in the …

A Mixed Methods Study: Dimensions Of Cross-Cultural Professional Success: Experiences Of Western Women Living And Working In Eastern Cultures, Tami J. France

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In this world of global interconnectedness women continue to develop cross-cultural careers and their experiences impact and influence global scholarship and practice. Through this study, the relationships, resources, and characteristics that support female expatriate success were explored, with additional focus on the role of mentor and coach relationships. The mixed-methods study was conducted using a sequential approach to research that began with one-on-one semi structured interviews with ten professional women from the United States and Canada working or formerly working in China and Hong Kong. A survey was designed based on the interview findings. Professional women from western countries working …

Breaking Barriers: The Influence Of Socioeconomic Status On Obesity Among Women In Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, Christina Camoriano

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Obesity in Brazil has grown rapidly within the past decade, however research is conflicting in terms of who carries the burden of this disease- the economic elite or the poor. Despite the lack of clarity towards the current distribution of obesity, many studies have come to the conclusion that in developing countries, obesity is growing more rapidly among those of lower socioeconomic status.¹¹ Therefore, the purpose of my research study is to examine how socioeconomic status influences the dietary and exercise habits of lower and lower-middle income women who are obese. This study is relevant because it seeks to …

The Moroccan Women's Rights Movement, Amy Y. Evrard

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

Among various important efforts to address women’s issues in Morocco, a particular set of individuals and associations have formed around two specific goals: reforming the Moroccan Family Code and raising awareness of women’s rights. Evrard chronicles the history of the women’s rights movement, exploring the organizational structure, activities, and motivations with specific attention to questions of legal reform and family law. Employing ethnographic scrutiny, Evrard presents the stories of the individual women behind the movement and the challenges they faced. Given the vast reform of the Moroccan Family Code in 2004, and the emphasis on the role of women across …

Sex-Trafficking In Cambodia: Assessing The Role Of Ngos In Rebuilding Cambodia, Katherine M. Wood

Senior Honors Theses

The anti-slavery and other freedom fighting movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries did not abolish all forms of slavery. Many forms of modern slavery thrive in countries all across the globe. The sex trafficking trade has intensified despite the advocacy of many human rights-based groups. Southeast Asia ranks very high in terms of the source, transit, and destination of sex trafficking. In particular, human trafficking of women and girls for the purpose of forced prostitution remains an increasing problem in Cambodia. Cambodia’s cultural traditions and the breakdown of law under the Khmer Rouge and Democratic Kampuchea have contributed to …

Sex (Still) Sells: How Sex Trafficking In The United States And Thailand Perpetuates Minority Repression, Emily B. Hulsey

Honors College Theses

Human trafficking is the third most profitable illegal international trade behind drug and arms trafficking. Sex trafficking is the second largest subset of this illegal enterprise and soon may equal or surpass labor trafficking as the prominent subset. This research aims to address four integral components of the sex trafficking and forced prostitution trade: (1) to show how sex trafficking in Thailand is being used perpetually to repress minority women and their communities; (2) to show how sex trafficking of minors (ranging in age from 8-17) in Atlanta, Georgia is shockingly similar to sex trafficking practices in Thailand; (3) to …

The Patriarchy’S Role In Gender Inequality In The Caribbean, Erin C. O'Connor

Student Publications

While gender equality in the Caribbean is improving, with women’s growing social, economic, and political participation, literacy rates comparable to those in Europe, and greater female participation in higher education, deeply rooted inequalities are still present and are demonstrated in the types of jobs women are in and the limited number of women in decision-making positions. Sexism, racism, and classism are systemic inequalities being perpetuated in schools, through the types of education offered for individuals and the content in textbooks. Ironically, the patriarchy is coexisting within a system of matrifocal and matrilocal families, with a long tradition of female economic …

The Right To Choose: Women’S Political Activity In Islamic States, Emily A. Gibson

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

The past fifteen to twenty years have seen a significant shift in focus to the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region as well as other primarily Islamic regions and countries, including Indonesia. Much of Western foreign policy has been allocated to tracking and stopping trans-national Islamic terrorist networks such as Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabaab, and working with the governments of the countries throughout which these groups operate. Despite what popular culture may portray, those who study Islam and its adherents have come to recognize that these terrorist groups represent a severe minority of what is often a thoughtful and peaceful faith. However, …

No Blood In The Water: The Legal And Gender Conspiracies Against Countess Elizabeth Bathory In Historical Context, Rachael Leigh Bledsaw

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explains and discusses the conspiracies reported against the Hungarian noblewoman, Countess Elizabeth Bathory, regarding her confinement and the arrest of her accomplices in December 1610. The conspiracies state that the Countess was unjustly targeted and charged not because she was guilty of the deaths of several dozen girls from torture, but because she represented a threat to the Hapsburg Empire due to her wealth, her political influence, and her widowhood. This thesis explores the rationality of these two conspiracies using historical context regarding the position of noblewomen in Central and Eastern Europe and the function and use of …

The Effect Of The Sub-Saharan African Gender Divide On The Rights And Status Of Women In A Globalized World, Toni Shoola

International ResearchScape Journal

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to a substantial gender divide that encompasses numerous aspects of life. Though this divide is a historic reality for Sub-Saharan Africa, the recent and current process of globalization has also had both negative and positive impacts on the gender divide. This paper provides a look at the gender divide in Sub-Saharan Africa from a theoretical and historical framework that goes on to explore various facets of life including economics, education, land tenure, legal rights, political participation, and health rights. In addition, one countermovement to the pervasive gender divide, African feminisms, is analyzed.

Protecting The Living Victims: Evaluating The Impact Of India's Farmer Suicide Crisis On Its Rural Women, Gowri Janakiramanan

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Ugandan Women In Rural Agriculture And Food Security, Karen Ann Mckenna

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Women engaged in small-scale rural agriculture in Iganga, Uganda for the purpose of household food security and/or income generation face a number of challenges to creating sustainable livelihoods. This analysis is presented in the form of a case study based on research conducted over the period of one year in Uganda between September 2012 and September 2013. Three conceptual orientations are used to guide the research, including sustainable livelihoods, gender and agricultural development, and food security. Pertinent economic, political, and social contexts are identified for each of these orientations. The author then identifies key challenges that women in Iganga face …

TodavíA Bailamos La Cueca Sola : From Local Protest Practice Against Chile's Dictatorship To (Trans)National Memory Icon, Karolina Sonja Babic

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation is a multi-sited cultural-historical ethnography about the cueca sola, a dance that was created to denounce the disappearances of citizens during Chile's dictatorship in the 1970s. Some women with missing relatives, who belonged to the music group Conjunto Folclórico of the Association of the Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared (AFDD), created a variation on the Chilean national dance (the cueca - traditionally a courtship dance between a man and a woman) which did not involve a male partner. Instead, they performed it alone. In so doing, these women, who were among the first to denounce the military's …

Que No Te Eduque La Rosa De Guadalupe - Stereotypes In Telenovelas, Ana Gomez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Gender-based discrimination and gender-based violence prevail in cultures where sexism and violence are usual. According to feminist organizations our best solution is education from an early age. However, in places where means of formal education are scarce, we may turn to alternative solutions such as television. Television has been examined in multiple studies for its role in the formation of gender, and other type of stereotypes. But also it has been considered a useful tool in challenging traditional notions about gender and in helping to promote social change. For this reason, a textual analysis was conducted on La Rosa de …

In Idi Amin’S Shadow: Women, Gender, And Militarism In Uganda, Alicia C. Decker

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

In Idi Amin’s Shadow is a rich social history examining Ugandan women’s complex and sometimes paradoxical relationship to Amin’s military state. Based on more than one hundred interviews with women who survived the regime, as well as a wide range of primary sources, this book reveals how the violence of Amin’s militarism resulted in both opportunities and challenges for women. Some assumed positions of political power or became successful entrepreneurs, while others endured sexual assault or experienced the trauma of watching their brothers, husbands, or sons “disappeared” by the state’s security forces. In Idi Amin’s Shadow considers the crucial ways …

Building Women’S Solidarity To Advance Women’S Rights In Bolivia, Luzdary Hammad

Master's Theses

This paper takes a historical look at the deep-seated ethnic and class divisions between women in Bolivia. It also examines the cultural challenges that help explain the status of women in Bolivia and the obstacles women face to become politically active. It provides the theories of decolonization and depatriachalization as practical ways Bolivia can move past their colonial and patriarchal history. It also looks into what feminism means overall in Latin America and what strategies Latin American women have used to make change for women. It then provides a political history of Bolivia from 1994 to the present giving the …

The Uneven Representation Of Women In Asian Parliaments: Explaining Variation Across The Region, Devin K. Joshi, Kara Kingma

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Although home to the majority of the world's women, Asia is the continent with the smallest proportion of women in Parliament. Rarely studied from a comparative perspective, this article examines the uneven representation of women in the lower houses of contemporary Asian parliaments. While socio-economic modernization and industrialization are generally expected to increase the proportion of women in positions of political influence, we find that differences in electoral and party systems across Asia play a greater role than levels of female literacy, urbanization, or per capita income. In particular, Asian parliaments with strict quotas and a higher number of (three …

Gauging The Gender Divide In The Middle East’S Educational System: Causes, Concerns, And The Impetus For Change, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Wajma (An Afghan Love Story), Dereck Daschke

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Wajma (An Afghan Love Story) (2013) directed by Barmak Akram.

Transformations In Body And Cuisine In Rural Yucatan, Mexico, Lauren Wynne

Anthropology and Sociology Faculty Publications

Many twentieth-century ethnographic accounts of the rural Yucatec Maya analyze the accruement of culinary knowledge as a crucial part of the process of socialization, by which children become adults (e.g., Gaskins 2003; Greene 2002). Indeed, in the rural town of Juubche, fairly predictable culinary milestones continue to mark the lives of girls and women. Some young women, however, are using their access to new foods and related knowledge to challenge both local hierarchies of expertise and ideologies of racial difference. For many young women in Juubche, there is a link between consuming new foods and identifying oneself with larger Yucatecan …

Towards A Theory About Spanish Women In Sixteenth Century Hispaniola : A Research Guide And Case Studies, Lissette Acosta-Corniel

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation is a pioneering study about the first Spanish women of Hispaniola, the first European settlement of the Americas. Spanish women in sixteenth century Hispaniola have never been adequately identified, and as a consequence their history has not been written. One of the major setbacks about the history of Spanish women in colonial Hispaniola is to know where to look for information about them. For this reason, this dissertation offers a research guide about Spanish women in sixteenth century Hispaniola, and in order to learn about the quotidian lives of these women, this dissertation presents specific case studies and …

Women's Mobilization In Latin America: A Case Study Of Venezuela, Brianna Russell

Master's Theses

Abstract

I examine the following elements in regards to women’s mobilization in Latin America and Venezuela from the late 1950s to the present: (a) the influence of the state and economy on times when women mobilized (b) class division within the movement (c) women’s demands during different time periods (d) the ways in which women were successful in working towards gender equality. This thesis reviews the literature on women’s mobilization in Latin America during the second half of the twentieth century. I find that women mobilized across class lines with the masses to end dictatorships. Women demobilized during transitions to …